Ħondoq ir-Rummien has been facing threats of a proposed development of a new marina in the bay for the last 19 years, and discussions have resurfaced once again.

Many residents and environmentalists have publically voiced their concerns on the matter, and have been calling for the issuing of public domain status for the area.

The Government should be listening to these requests for public domain status to be awarded to Ħondoq, and also compensate owners accordingly. 

Five years ago, the Public Domain Bill was enacted, and it had received unanimous cross-party support from both the Labour Party as well as the Nationalist Party.

So what does the Public Domain Act state?

The Act provides for areas, both public and also private, to be designated as public domain. This means that the areas are given the opportunity to be preserved for their safeguarding and protection, and for the enjoyment of future generations.

Through this Act, private property rights are preserved as they are. The owner is not dispossessed of his property, as is outlined multiple times in the law and also by the Authorities.

In this way, owners may also be compensated and paid for allowing the preservation of such areas.

This would be a win-win situation for private owners who get to keep their land and may be compensated, as well as for the public that gets to see the land preserved and future generations can also benefit.

What’s the other option?

The other alternative in such a case, and maybe not the best, would be to expropriate the land from the owners.

In simpler terms, expropriation means that the owner’s land is taken away for the benefit or use of the public, but the owner is compensated for what is claimed. 

In a case such as this one, if the land is expropriated before a permit for development is granted, then the owner will be compensated based on what they initially paid for the area. However, if a permit has been granted, the value of the land would increase drastically.

MaltaToday has reported that the land was acquired from the Dominican Order by the present landowners, who paid €23,000 for it in 1988, at a full sale price of €1.5 million should the company be awarded a permit for its development.

This begs the question as to what price the land would be bought back for, given that the owner’s €17 million valuation is based on the project as it is envisaged by the owners and which they presently have no permit for.

At this point, questions must be raised whether both the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party are being hypocritical. Although the public domain act was enacted back in 2016, it has not been implemented.

Despite the fact that there have been endless calls to have the area of Ħondoq declared as public domain, it still has not been implemented.

Back in 2016, FAA had also included Ħondoq in the list of areas that they deemed fit to be considered as public domain.

The aim of the legislative addition was to safeguard, the property common to all citizens, and make sure that it is still available for future generations to come.

Both parties have made it clear that they are against the development, with PN saying that they will acquire the land area in question from the private owners in order to rehabilitate and develop it into a national part.

So now the next step would be to follow through on their stance of being against the development.

The ball is in your court. 

If you’re still unsure on whether Ħondoq should be made public domain or not, check out our seven reasons why it should be left for the public. 

Share to raise awareness